The Man:
"What?" Aquaman yells, looking at me.
"What's your answer?" I ask again. "Are you and Atlantis joining the Insurgency or not?"
Aquaman looks at me. He doesn't say anything. I don't know if that's a bad sign or not. On the one hand, he isn't saying yes. On the other hand, he isn't trying to impale me with his trident.
"Uhh, hello? Can you hear me? Anyone home?"
I knock my knuckles against Aquaman's forehead. He winces and leans back. Kara grabs my shoulder and pulls me back.
"Don't do that," she says.
"Why not? Again, he was mean to me. So I have to be mean to you, creating the endless cycle of us being mean to each other."
"You do remember you just asked him to join the Insurgency," Harleen interrupts. "Like, not even a full five seconds ago."
"Yes," I answer, throwing in a nod.
Hearing a cough, we all turn to Aquaman. Aquaman coughs again before slamming his hand on one of his knees. He pushes himself up and stands steadily.
"I have my thanks for helping my kingdom," Aquaman starts, "But you do not have my support."
"Wait, what?" Kara asks.
"Arthur," Flash says, stepping forward.
"You bastard," Cold says, reaching for his cold gun. I shoot out my hand and block both of them.
"My kingdom is still recovering from Brainic's previous attack. We are weak and cannot support —"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I say, rolling my fingers. "Whatever. Okay. See you later. Hopefully, it'll be a long while."
I turn, face everyone, and nudge my head toward the Junker submarine.
"Come on, everyone. Let's get out of here. Some of us are starting to stink like fish, and it really bothers me."
I start walking back toward the Junker submarine.
"Wait, wait, wait," Kara says, jumping in front of me. "That's it? After everything you did for him, one no and you're ready to leave?"
"Yeah, I'm with the Supergirl," Todd says. "You and Oliver risked your lives to get that orichalcum. You made a cure from it to save Aquaman and the Atlanteans. You even saved him from that golden Android, but the second you asked for help, it's a no! You should've just let him die."
"I agree with Jason," Wilson says, crossing his arms. "We never should've come here. Waste of time."
Kara opens her mouth. About to say something, I put up my hand and stop her.
"Whether it was a waste of time or not, that's up for debate. Frankly, I agree. I have no problem with letting Aquaman die."
Kara looks at me, but I go on.
"But I can't let Atlantis perish. This kingdom was once my home, and was the home of a dear friend of mine. I won't force Atlantis to join us in our fight against Superman and his One Earth Government. But I will do this."
Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pull out a bright-orange handgun.
"Is that a flare gun?" Selina asks.
"Yes. A modified flare gun."
"When the heck did you have time to modify a flare gun?" Barry asks.
"I didn't. I modified this years ago. Kept it in the Junker sub. Here."
I offer Aquaman the flare gun. He slowly raises his hand and takes the flare gun.
"What is this for?"
"Something had been bothering me for a while now."
I turn and look at the ocean just outside the glass dome. Everyone, even Aquaman, slowly turns and looks out the glass dome too.
"Superman never came back."
"Superman?" Aquaman repeats.
"Superman's submarines attack only once, then never again. Why? Why didn't he come back?"
Aquaman looks at me. Kara looks at Flash, Flash looks at Oliver, and so on.
"You are right," Aquaman says. "Why hasn't Superman returned yet?"
"I don't know, but in case he does, or something else happens, hold onto that flare gun. I modified the gun and flare so that the flare could shoot through the water and light up the sky."
"That sounds only useful if we happened to be in the area," Oliver says. "What the chances we're going to be flying over Atlantis when Aquaman fires?"
"Trust me," I say, "No matter where I am, I'll see it."
Looking around, I spot the Doc and Iris still treating some Atlanteans. While Iris is handing out cups of salt water to Atlanteans, the Doc is doing various check-ups. Going from Atlantean to Atlantean, he tests their reflexes with a rubber hammer, checks their blood pressure with a blood pressure cuff, and uses a scanner to check their temperature.
"Doc," I yell, "Iris. Time to go."
"We're leaving?" Iris asks.
"Is Atlantis joining us?" the Doc asks.
"Nope," I answer.
"Seriously?" Iris says.
"Yup. Pack everything. We're leaving and heading out."
"What about the smallpox?" The Doc asks. "You cured the orichalcum, but many Atlanteans still show smallpox symptoms: rashes, blisters, high fever."
"The smallpox cure should be finished synthesizing," I answer. "I'll give it to King Crabby before we leave."
As my right foot touches the Junker's ramp, someone stops me.
"Wait!"
Turning around, I see Queen Mera running toward us. Running at first, she slows to a speed-walk before stumbling. About to fall over, I rush forward and catch Queen Mera before she can.
"Queen Mera," I say, bowing my head. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine," Queen Mera answers. "Just a little light-headed."
Placing her hand on her forehead, I turn to Selina and Ivy. Nudging my head, the two nod and walk over to me. They take Queen Mera from my hands. While Queen Mera rests her head on Selina's knees, Ivy places her hand on Queen Mera's forehead.
"She's burning up."
I turn to Iris and the Doc.
"Get her some more water. Doc, in case anything happens, keep an eye on her. I'm going to get the smallpox cure."
Iris and the Doc both nod. Iris grabs another paper cup and scoops some water from the ocean. Doc prepares his tools. I rush into the Junker, bursting through the lab's door. Exactly where I left it, the computer had finished synthesizing the cure. Walking to the lab's main computer, I place my hands on the keyboard and begin typing. A few seconds later, a tube shoots out, hovering above an assembly line of glass test tubes. A light purple liquid pours out of the computer's tube, filling the test tubes. In only a few more minutes, I have over 100 test tubes. Grabbing and shoving all the test tubes into my jacket pocket, I grab a few other things before running back out.
Thankfully, when I come back, Queen Mera is still stable. Iris is helping her drink some salt water while she rests on Selina's knees. The Doc is still standing nearby with his tools ready.
"Here," I say, giving Queen Mera one of the tubes. "Drink this. It'll help."
Queen Mera wastes no time. She drinks the light purple medicine in three small gulps. Almost immediately, we begin to see the effects.
Queen Mera slowly and steadily pushes herself off Selina. The Doc checks her temperature with a scanner.
"The scanner reads 78 degrees."
"And that's okay for Atleantans?" Selina asks.
"Yes. According to The Man's note."
"It's healthy," I say. Reaching into my jacket, I pull out the other 99 test tubes.
"Here."
I give them to Queen Mera.
"These will cure the smallpox virus."
I then pull out a few other things.
"Also, take these. This is the orichalcum cure, but in a liquid form, not gas. These papers are the formulas for both the orichalcum and smallpox cure. If what I remember about your technology is still true, then you and your people should have no issue re-creating both cures."
"Thank you so much," Queen Mera says, bowing her head. Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a small golden medal with a picture of Aquaman's trident printed on it.
"Take this," she goes on. "The king may not want to admit it, but we owe you very much. With this badge, show it to any guards, and they will escort you to Arthur immediately."
"Thank you," I say, taking the badge and putting it in my pocket. "Uhh, keep the cots. I have extra."
I then turn to everyone.
"We're leaving," I say. "Everyone, in the Junker."